


After Life After Death

by MyShipsinStormySeas



Series: Pepperony Week 2019 [6]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Infinity Gems, Magic, Pepperony Week, Post-Canon Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-08-13 13:20:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20174929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyShipsinStormySeas/pseuds/MyShipsinStormySeas
Summary: Tony figures he died, but if so, the afterlife sure is strange."Tony’s vision went black and the next moment, everything was different...Okay… well this was definitely the afterlife then.'You’re not dead.'"Rated T for potty mouths, because MCU. Canon Major Character Death (except not really)Written For Pepperony Week 2019 Day 6 Fanfic Prompt: Endgame Fix-It





	1. I Died, Right?

**Author's Note:**

> To understand MCU time travel in the context of this work, click the link to the notes at the end of this work. The fic might be a little easier to understand if you do. If you don’t want to know the details, no worries. Just know that when I say time travel does/works/creates something, that it does :D
> 
> Warnings in the summary.

Pepper’s voice echoed in his ear, sounding both next to him and very far away.

“You can rest now.”

Tony’s vision went black and the next moment, everything was different.

The first thing he noticed, naturally, was that nothing hurt anymore.

The next thing he noticed was that Pepper, Peter—everyone—was gone. In their place was a rolling, golden fog, shimmering at the edges with red and green sparks here and there in the corner of his vision.

“Honey? Peter?” he called out, staggering to his feet.

Huh. Well at least he was able to do that.

Was this heaven then? Or Thor’s Valhalla? It was a bit boring, but it was rather pretty, he supposed. He didn’t hurt, so he didn’t think this was hell at least.

He didn’t really know what to think or feel, so he just stood there for a few minutes, waiting for something to happen.

Nothing did.

Well, he wasn’t getting answers here; he might as well explore a little.

He took a step, and then froze, startled.

Looking down, he realized his clothed arms and legs looked somewhat… ghostly.

He could see through them, and they almost blended in with the rolling fog around him. His feet were barely visible, and—even more astounding—they weren’t even touching the ground.

Okay… well this was definitely the afterlife then.

“You’re not dead.”

The voice came out of nowhere and Tony whipped himself around.

In front of him sat a young woman. Technically she was also floating, about an inch off the ground. She had shoulder-length brown hair, slightly curled, and mischievous brown eyes, glittering with amusement. She was wearing leggings, and an odd sort of loose robe with deep pockets. The robe was red with golden accents: iron man colors. Tony couldn’t help feeling that he’d seen her somewhere before.

The woman was also ignoring him, looking at several tablets she’d spread out around her, switching her focus from one to another every few seconds.

“Have I met you before?”

“Actually you haven’t. The other me, but not me.”

Tony frowned, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

The woman rolled her eyes, “Ha. And they call you a genius. Told Mom you wouldn’t know. Actually, stay there for a sec will you? I need to do something.”

Without further ado, she pulled out an odd piece of jewelry—it looked like two gold rings attached by a flat strip of gold alloy—and drew a gold circle in the air, exactly like the ones he’d seen Strange create on the battlefield.

She waved a hand and suddenly, he was looking at himself.

It was a body, laid out before him with eyes closed, covered in cracked pieces of armor. Half the body, though dirty, appeared relatively fine. The other half of the body looked like it had been burned to a crisp.

That body was undeniably his.

Tony decided he’d had enough experiences in the last few minutes that made absolutely no sense.

“What the fuck is that?” he asked.

The woman held up a finger, scrolled through several screens around her, and then took a syringe filled with a glowing green liquid out of her pocket, “I said stay still for a minute Da—er, Tony.”

Tony, oblivious of her slip of the tongue, watched her move to inject the still body in front of him, “Are you sure that’s such a—“

She pressed the syringe before he could finish speaking, and he felt a pinch above his right elbow.

“Ouch,” he said, rubbing the spot on his current, ghostly body, looking down at the still, solid body below him.

“Sorry,” she said, before waving her hand, and making the body disappear once more amid golden sparks.

There was silence then, as the woman sat still, floating quietly, apparently done with whatever task she’d just accomplished. Tony found the stare a little unnerving, but he didn’t look away.

“You look so ridiculously young. It’s really weird,” she said at length, wrinkling her nose.

Tony raised his eyebrows.

“Young?” he spluttered out, “If I’m young, what are you? You look, what, twenty-five?

“Twenty-seven,” she replied primly.

“My point stands.”

There was another silence.

Tony groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Look lady, I’ve had a really stressful day. I time-traveled, reconciled with my long-dead dad, helped bring my semi-adopted son back from the dead, fought a battle with fighters teleported in from all over the galaxy, and, oh yeah, _I died_. Is it too much to ask for some straight answers around here? Let’s start simple: where am I?”

His companion grimaced, “That’s, actually, particularly complicated.”

Tony rolled his eyes, “Of course it is.”

“How about we start by explaining my first point, and go from there?”

Tony frowned, “You’re first point being?”

“You’re not dead.”


	2. You're Not Dead...-ish

_Previously:_

_“How about we start by explaining my first point, and go from there?”_

_Tony frowned, “You’re first point being?”_

_“You’re not dead.”_

Tony nodded, “Okay, yeah. Let’s start with that. I stopped breathing, my vision went black, and then I magically appeared in the middle of a golden fog. Now, my body’s transparent and I’m floating off the ground like, oh, I don’t know, _a ghost_. I’m pretty sure that means I’m dead.”

The woman opposite him rolled her eyes. She seemed to do that a lot.

“You’re not dead. I put you in a state of astral projection. I took you out of your body, so to speak. Your astral form is obviously a good deal less solid than your physical form.”

“Obviously.”

“Astral projection slows down time, and I needed to use it until I could freeze time completely. Even a second makes a difference in your condition.”

“My condition being not dead.”

“Correct.”

“What’s with the golden fog?”

“I put your astral projection in the soul stone to keep it safe and I’m using the time stone to freeze time. Red and green light make yellow. Come on, aren’t you a genius?”

“And you can just casually give me out-of-body ‘astral projection’ as you call it. Not to mention freezing time?”

“Yep. What, you can’t?”

The woman was smirking now.

“So what, you’re some kind of wizard? Like Dr. Strange?”

“I consider it one of my degrees.”

Tony bit back a startled laugh at that, “Degree, like what, Phd in Wizardry?

“I prefer Wiz at the end of my name.”

“Yeah Wiz for wiseass, maybe.”

“Definitely heard that one before.”

Tony cocked his head to one side, grinning, but brought the conversation back to the point, “So, I’m not dead; I’m just frozen in time. But I’m about to die.”

The woman grinned more broadly, “Not anymore! I mean I suppose your heart will still stop, and you’ll stop breathing, and your lungs will stop pushing oxygen through your body—“

“I think you and I have different definitions of dying.”

“But the serum I injected you with will freeze you, kind of like Uncle Stevie in the ice. Meanwhile, it’ll heal all the damage from the infinity stones. After a couple days or so, you’ll wake up, all healed.”

“I.. what… _Uncle Stevie_?

“Seriously, that’s what you focus on?”

“Steve doesn’t have a niece, and no serum can do what you’re saying.”

“Actually he does, in one timeline, but she’s not me. He’s more of a friend of the family in my life.”

“And how do you know Steve?”

“Oh he comes by to visit all the time. You’ll see. He’s happy with Peggy, but he comes back to see Bucky, and to take me sledding on his shield. Pym gives Cassie particles when she begs, and she always gives them to Uncle Stevie.”

‘Okay, seriously, who are you?”

“I figured we’d cover that after discussing the coming-back-to-life part?”

“I… that’s… still think that’s impossible by the way, and right now I want to know who you are. I _know_ I’ve met you before. And you mentioned timelines and controlling time, so I’m assuming you time traveled here?

“_Finally_, keep up. You discovered time travel first after all. Yes, I time traveled. Specifically I combined time travel with navigation into alternate timelines that were no part of my own. Then I froze time with the Eye of Agamotto.”

“But, if you’re from the future, and we return the time stone like I know we need to, how did you get it?”

“I’m not from your future. I’m from an alternate timeline,” The woman said, rolling her eyes again. She looked exactly like Pepper when she did that.

“Okay, fine, not sure I completely follow, but whatever, _who are you_?”

“Seriously?” the woman said, arching an eyebrow, before shrugging, “Eh. Strange said not too, but what the hell.”

She struck a pose, flipping her hair back and grinning at him, and the dots finally started to connect in Tony’s brain just as she began speaking.

“I’m Morgan Fucking Stark.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (to be continued in further chapters)
> 
> Also the Pepperony part of this fic is coming soon I promise. This first part is mostly Tony and Morgan. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! Kudos and comments welcomed and loved!


	3. Explanations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hope the science makes sense or that it is at least in keeping with the rules for time travel for this fic (see end-of-work notes). There's a lot of comic book science in here.
> 
> Then again, it's comic book science, so if it doesn't make complete sense... hey, it's in keeping with the genre.
> 
> Hope you enjoy! More chapters to come!

Tony gaped, a million thoughts running through his head. No way this woman was Morgan. His baby wasn’t even five years old yet. Also, his daughter wasn’t a _wizard_.

He opened his mouth to say all these thoughts and more but only one word came out, “_Language_.”

Morgan stared at him, and then bent over, letting out peals of laughter, “Did… did you just say… _language_?”

Tony kept gaping at her.

“I’m telling Uncle Stevie.”

Tony snapped his mouth shut, “Oh no you won’t.”

Morgan kept laughing, “Oh yes I am! You’ll never live it down.”

Tony opened his mouth; he had protests and a million questions but he got distracted by simply watching her laugh. In that moment he knew: this was his daughter. This was Morgan. He’d seen more impossible things lately.

“Morguna?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re so beautiful. All grown up. And I’m so proud of you.”

Morgan had stopped laughing, and was now looking at him with a small smile, shrugging bashfully, “You don’t even know what I’ve done.”

Tony shook his head, “Doesn’t matter. Still proud.”

They smiled at each other.

“Morgan?”

“Yeah?”

“Why the fuck are you messing with infinity stones? How are you not hurt—_burned_?”

Morgan groaned, “Relax, Dad. I’ve already had to calm you down over this in one timeline.”

“Probably because in any universe I don’t want my baby getting burned by the same stones that killed her father!”

Morgan pointed at him, “Not dead.”

“Jury’s still out on that. And don’t you try to wiggle your way out of this. I want answers, young lady.”

“Young lady? You haven’t called me that in years.”

“Sounds like I’m overdue.”

“Dad it’s fine. It’s a long story.”

“Time’s frozen anyway. Tell me.”

“I can use the infinity stones without getting hurt. The end.”

“That’s not a full story.”

“Your bedtime stories used to be shorter.”

“It’s not bedtime… it’s literally no time at all. You froze time.”

“Dad.”

“Morgan.”

Morgan sighed, “Okay fine, but promise not to blame yourself?”

Tony sucked in a breath, “Now I definitely need to hear this.”

Morgan sighed again, and then motioned at him to sit down opposite, which he ignored. Rolling her eyes, Morgan began telling her story.

“Alright Dad, fine, let’s do this. You know that other timeline I keep saying I’m from? It’s the one where Loki got the tesseract after your visit to the Battle of New York.”

Tony’s eyes widened, remembering that first unfortunate mission with Steve and Scott, attempting to time-heist the tesseract from the Battle of New York. He remembers Loki disappearing with the tesseract in a blue cloud, and Scott’s voice in his ear, asking, “That wasn’t supposed to happen, was it?”

Tony decided to sit down after all, “So, by inventing time travel and then changing all that stuff with Steve and Scott, I essentially created you and your whole universe.”

Morgan smirked, “Do we need to have the birds and the bees talk again Dad? I’m pretty sure you helped create me either way.”

Tony was still thinking aloud, “So in your universe, because of our failed attempts to get the tesseract, you grew up in a world where Loki was running around freely with the tesseract for six years before you were even born.”

“Technically four years,” Morgan replied.

Tony looked at her, waiting for her to explain.

“Things are pretty different in my universe. And Uncle Stevie played a big part in that when he came back to return the mind stone.”

Tony looked at her closely, “Okay, like how?”

Morgan opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again, “Okay, but get comfortable. This might take a while.”

* * *

Tony sat, quiet, trying to get his mind around the completely altered timeline that his daughter had just explained to him.

Apparently, after Loki disappeared with the tesseract, the Avengers generally had been much more paranoid. All of them were seriously worried about possible future invasions from space.

The whole team minus Thor had been involved from the beginning when Tony began Project Ultron. It was quickly changed to Project Vision when Thor suddenly arrived back on earth. After Vision was created, Thor explained that while he still hadn’t found Loki since New York, he had heard rumors that he’d been captured by some space general. Thor didn’t know much about him, but he’d heard gossip and whispers on the different planets he’d visited. Specifically, he’d heard a name: Thanos.

Thor left to continue searching and the rest of the Avengers worked to acclimate Vision.

After Vision’s “birth,” the Tony from her universe continued, with the full support and knowledge of the team, to implement greater security measures around the planet, just in case Loki ever decided to come back.

These programs relied a great deal on monitoring and violated privacy rights for most of the planet. Governments complained, and Steve and Tony would argue about it sometimes, but greater concern for the safety of the planet won out. These surveillance programs found James Barnes and footage of Howard and Maria Starks’ murders fairly quickly. Steve, who’d cut ties with Shield in favor of working exclusively with the Avengers by this point, had had no idea.

Both Steve and Tony needed calming down, but ultimately James Barnes was brought in safely, broken from his conditioning, and joined the Avengers on a trial basis.

To counteract the negative press on the surveillance programs, Tony decided to do a press conference for MIT, announcing that the Stark Foundation was going to be funding all of the research projects each student had put forward. They would need bright minds to protect the planet in the future, as it was.

Morgan paused in the telling here, mentioning, “And that was about when I was born—“

Tony stuttered, “Wait, _what_?”

Morgan frowned, “Oh yeah, weren’t you and Mom like fighting or something in your universe then? Mom didn’t love how you risked your neck all the time, but she’d formed good relationships with everyone on the team, and she trusted all of them to have your back. As far as I know, you two have never been on an ‘official break.’ You did sleep on the couch for three weeks when you tried to feed her strawberry cheesecake on your ten-year anniversary though.”

Tony winced, “Okay. Noted. No strawberry cheesecake. Keep going.”

As Morgan explained it, it was about this time that Peggy Carter died. At the funeral, Steve received a surprise gift out of her belongings. It was a letter, addressed to him from a Mr. Carter, a cousin of Peggy’s, found in her belongings post-mortem. The letter didn’t make any sense. Peggy didn’t have any male cousins.

Turned out it was a letter to Steve from his future self. When Steve had brought back the mind stone, back in 2012, he’d also left a letter.

However, before the Avengers, who were sitting in the living room at Stark Tower at the time, could read the letter, alarms went off all over the place.

Loki was back, a wild look in his eye, holding the tesseract aloft and threatening Pepper Potts and their newborn child with flame coming out of his hands.

Loki was screaming and yelling. He was only half comprehensible, saying something about how he couldn’t let the Dark Lord down again, and he couldn’t take any more pain and if the person who destroyed Thanos’ army didn’t come with him right now he would kill everyone in New York starting with this woman and her baby.

Hulk eventually managed to knock him flat and Thor teleported him and the Tesseract out to Asgard, but not before Loki’s magic and the Tesseract exploded in a large blast, destroying the room.

Pepper, who still had Extremis in her veins, was perfectly fine, but both Tony and Pepper were screaming in fear for Morgan.

When the dust settled, however, they saw that she looked completely…fine.

Morgan had been changed by the event, but this was only discovered years later, and at the time the Avengers were concerned with cleanup and reading Steve’s future letter to himself.

“Future” Steve, the one from the time heist, began the letter by telling his past self things only he would know, proving it really was him from the future. Steve, the older Morgan’s Uncle Steve, wouldn’t let anyone read that part.

The letter warned them about Thanos, explained about the infinity stones, and gave Tony the first hints he needed to create time-travel.

When Thanos had shown up, they had been ready.

Steve's letter ended with a more personal note with Steve speaking directly to himself.

Once adult Morgan finished her story, Tony read the words on a scrap of paper Morgan fished out from one of her many pockets.

“Steve… me… past me… whatever I call you. We both know you’re far too stubborn for your own good, but you always at least want to do what’s right for the world. I know Tony and you will drive each other up the wall, but listen to him Steve. He generally knows what he’s talking about. Be honest with him. I’ve fought with and broken promises to the Tony in my timeline; maybe you can do better. I’ll never be able to make it up to him. The Tony in my world gave his life to stop Thanos, to stop his forces, to ensure the ongoing survival of Earth and the entire universe. I’m writing this note so maybe your Tony won’t have to.

“If, after reading this letter, you defeat Thanos, and find a way to safely harness and then destroy the infinity stones, and work out the whole time-travel thing… I have one request. I don’t know if it’s even possible; if it even makes sense. But, if you figure out the technology (I know there are enough bright minds reading this to figure it out), could you come wield the gauntlet for Tony? He’s left his wife without a husband and his daughter without a dad. I’m about to go get my happy ending, or “the simple life,” as we once called it. But the Tony that I know, the Tony from my timeline, deserves to have a version of himself where he got to raise his daughter.”

Morgan finished with a scoff, “Of course, Uncle Stevie left time-travel to different minds for a reason. There are so many problems with his idea. If we came to your timeline, wielded the gauntlet, etc., all we’d do is create another timeline, and you'd still have died in the original one!

Then she turned toward Tony, “And no matter the timeline— I’m not okay with that! Morgan needs her dad!”

Tony nodded slowly, a slow grimace in agreement, “Okay… but isn’t that what you’re doing right now?”

Morgan shook her head vigorously, “No! See, if I wielded the gauntlet, that changes everything, and creates a whole other timeline where you never wielded it. But if I freeze time, only enter the timeline when absolutely necessary and operate mostly on the astral plane and in the soul stone, it's like nothing's changed. If everything goes the same until after Steve leaves the letter… I haven’t changed the timeline, and a new one isn’t created!”

Tony furrowed his eyebrows, “But… you said I didn’t die…”

Morgan grinned, “Correct. Still very much alive. But to anyone looking at your body and taking tests, as far as they know right now, you’re dead.”

Tony froze, “Wait, but that means Pepper, and Peter… and the other Morgan… They’re all gonna think I’m dead?”

Adult Morgan in front of him nodded, looking sober, “Yeah… sorry Dad, it was the only way. But we’ll get you back to them as soon as we can! We just need to keep you frozen on the inside until Steve goes to return all the stones, writes the note, and the timeline is safe.”

Tony clenched his fists and swallowed, “I don’t regret what I did. But the thought of Pepper going home, telling Morgan…”

Tony closed his eyes, shook himself, and then opened his eyes, “I have to get back. And when I do I’m never going to let them go. And I’m going to bring Morgan juice pops. All the juice pops.”

Morgan smiled softly, “You will Dad. Promise.”

The conversation stopped for a bit, Morgan looking thoughtful, Tony processing.

Eventually, he turned to adult Morgan, strode over, and gave her a big hug.

“I love you three thousand,” he said.

Morgan grinned wide, “I love you three million.”

“Just have to get the biggest number,” he muttered, “You get that from your mother.”

Morgan laughed outright, “Oh, yeah, my dad never had to have the loudest cars, or the most high-tech house, or the flashiest super suit, or the most prominent skyscraper in New York—“

Tony flicked her on the nose and she grinned at him.

“Morgan?”

“Yeah?”

“You still haven’t explained how you can use the stones, or do all the wizard stuff. Is the other Morgan gonna get a letter from Hogwarts on her 11th birthday?”

Morgan looked a little guilty, and a little shy, an emotion he hadn’t seen from the adult version yet, “Oh, right. Well, you know that explosion that happened when Thor recaptured Loki in my universe?”

Tony nodded.

“It kinda gave me… superpowers.”

Tony’s mouth fell open, “Superpowers.”

“Yeah, superpowers. I’m pretty ridiculously strong, and they think it fully unlocked and strengthened whatever genius gene you gave me, and also... I’m basically immune to the stones.”

“Immune.”

“Yeah. “

“Holy shit.”

“You just said Mommy’s word.”

Tony let out an odd sound, half a laugh, half a squawk of disbelief, continuing to stare at her. Apparently, the idea of his daughter gaining insane superpowers was harder to process than a whole other reality.

Morgan kept talking, “So, growing up with superpowers and having lived among superheroes my whole life, I picked up the superhero gig pretty quick. Mom was furious, but I think you knew you couldn’t stop me, so you just worked as hard as possible to keep me safe while I did it. Aunt Carol taught me to control it, and I got three degrees at MIT, but I got bored. So, now Dr. Strange is teaching me to do magic. So soon I’ll be able to call myself "Genius Billionaire Superhero Wizard."

Morgan then stopped to look at her father.

He was still staring at her, mouth open.

The only words he could come up with were, “Holy shit.”

“That’s Mommy’s word.”


	4. It's Gonna Be Okay

Tony watched his daughter, who had just revealed that she had insane superpowers with barely more than a shrug of her shoulder.

His baby was going to leave Iron Man in the dust, and that was just as it should be. A proud grin began to light up his whole face.

Then, another thought came to him. His baby, by leaving Iron Man in the dust, would be a prime target for all the super-villains, power-hungry world leaders, and general evil of the world.

The grin disappeared, and Tony shoved down the panic. He finally was starting to understand where Pepper had been coming from, all those years ago.

He picked up one of the tablets and turned away, beginning to mess with it and shrugging off a strange prickling in his right shoulder. Morgan snatched it back.

He spoke, hesitantly, regretfully, guiltily, “I never wanted you to be forced into this life. I wanted you to be safe, at peace, and happy. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

Morgan looped her arms around his neck from behind, “I _know_, Dad.”

Gently, she pulled his shoulders until he was turned around, facing her, “And trust me, neither you nor my superpowers forced me into this. It just… fell into place. It’s the life I want, and I chose it.”

Tony sighed unhappily, rolling his shoulder to relieve a painful stiffness in his upper right arm, “Alright, I hear you. And I do get it. I don’t like it, but I get it. And I’m sure the Tony in your universe has a million suits, A.I.s., and programs that have your back. Not to mention Iron Man.”

Morgan nodded, “Yep. Right on the mark. Not to mention when Mom gets involved. That adds a whole other layer of overprotectiveness.”

Tony chuckled, “Sorry kid, when it comes to parents obsessed with protection and safety, you hit the mother lode.“

Morgan groaned, “Tell me about it! Especially when I started dating!”

Tony froze up, shuddering, “No. Nope. No dating. No dates until you’re at least like… 80.”

Morgan groaned again, “_Dad_. Honestly. Besides, you already tried to scare off everyone who’s shown an interest in me. At least now you actually like Natty—”

Tony crossed his arms, a frown growing, “Natty? Who names their kid—”

He abruptly stopped speaking, caught off guard by a sharp pain in his right elbow, causing him to let out a sudden, startled gasp.

Morgan looked at him with concern, “Dad, are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Tony shook his head, “I’m fine Morguna. Just on odd—”

He stopped speaking again, as deep, shooting pain seemed to sink its claws into the very essence of his forearm.

Morgan’s eyes widened “No you’re not! Oh no, this is what I was afraid of. This is why I didn’t want to take all the time to explain things; I never got to prepare—and now we don’t have time! It’s gonna be okay Dad. I, uh—”

Morgan took a deep breath, signaling tears or panic we’re likely to follow.

Tony fought over the pain and grasped her shoulder with his left hand, “Morguna, it’s okay. Just explain now. What’s going—”

Letting out a stifled grunt as the pain suddenly got worse, Tony let go of Morgan’s shoulder and bent over, focusing on simply breathing. His body had been through its share of physical abuse, and he had a high pain tolerance. He’d be fine. It was just this was… this was definitely up there on a scale from 1 to 10.

“Right, right. Explain,” Morgan said in a shaky voice, “Right. Okay. Okay. Dad? It’s gonna be okay.”

Somehow, in the midst of the pain, Tony felt a sudden urge to give into hysterical giggles. Pepper had once stopped to say those exact words in that exact tone of voice when he was in the middle of going into cardiac arrest, while she held the reactor in her hands.

He muttered under his breath the same as he did then, “Let’s hope so.”

His body jerked and he curled into himself, holding his arm as the pain spread to his wrist.

Morgan kept talking, providing muddled explanations at a frantic rate.

“I wasn’t sure— time works so differently in astral projection and it normally just slows down, but it’s complicated. I froze time and worked to heal your physical body but by bringing your astral form in here, time is technically still moving for you even while your physical body is frozen in time. Once I return your astral form to your physical body they should just meet up when the amount of time you’ve spent in astral form matches the amount of time your physical boy has been frozen—in temperature not in time—but so far the astral form wouldn’t register pain because your physical body wouldn’t register pain because it was frozen—both in temperature and in time— but your injuries were so severe that Dr. Strange said we would need you awake on the astral level to get the adrenaline pumping and get your body to focus on what it needs to heal first. I didn’t want to believe him. I told him that’s not how the science works and he should know that better than anyone but he said that’s what happens when you mix science and magic. He said this was the only way. He said it might take a while but the time progressions for your astral and physical self would be off and the split would get wider so now your body is trying to reunite the two—“

His daughter had definitely inherited his talent for using too many words.

He gritted his teeth, “Morgan—okay—but no time—tell me—what this is—simple terms.”

Morgan was nodding vigorously, “Okay. Okay. Sorry. So what’s happening is that your body, having been physically frozen like Uncle Stevie, will begin healing the moment I unfreeze time. Time is moving right now for your astral form, which I did not freeze in time. It’s connected to that future time when your body starts healing. That’s what you’re feeling now, but we didn’t know it would be so bad. We need you awake to properly heal, using adrenaline and the focus that will help because we combined science and magic. I didn’t want to, but Dr. Strange said—”

Tony still wasn’t following. He felt that maybe he should; he was a genius after all. But the pain was just…

It must have shown on his face because Morgan stopped talking.

Morgan shook her head, “Doesn’t matter. Listen Dad, it doesn’t matter, okay? It’ll be over soon. But I need you to fight, okay? Think of Mom, think of little-me waiting for you at the lake house. You’re gonna make it back to them. But I need you to hold on. You can fight this. I know you can. You just got to breathe and it’ll be over soon.

Tony nodded jerkily and shoved his left fist up to his mouth when the pain reached his right hand.

Morgan looked about to freak out, and was speaking into one of the tablets, saying something about ”hold on,” and “Mom” and “help” and “need” and “_Mom_.”

All those nerve endings… it was like every nerve had been set on fire and then chopped into pieces and it hurt so badly and he didn’t want to cry or scream in front of Morgan he didn’t want to—

And then, the tiny part of him that was still conscious of anything outside the pain was utterly astounded by the sight that came into his vision next.

Walking toward him through a portal of golden sparks, was Pepper. But not _his_ Pepper, exactly.

This Pepper was beautiful; when could any version of Pepper _not_ be beautiful?

She had more wrinkles and more laugh lines. Her hair was dyed a darker red, likely to cover up any gray. He bet she'd look just as gorgeous with gray hair, though.

The softness in her blue eyes when she looked at him made him feel like all the pain had just been the tiniest bit lessened. He always loved looking into her eyes.

She was so perfect.

“Pep,” he tried to say, feeling a strong sense of déjà vu as he looked up at her, curled in pain.

She cupped his face, which, like the rest of his astral form, looked deceptively like he was in perfect health.

“You’re okay. You’re gonna be okay Tony,” she said, and Tony believed her.

“They’ve put the serum in you. It’s going to heal you. You just need to give it a little push.”

Tony heard her, but he couldn’t process the words because his shoulder and his arm and his _hand_ were just—”

Pepper kept one hand on his cheek and brought her other to grasp his shaking left fist in hers.

Pepper, adult Morgan’s Pepper, but still somehow his Pepper, kept up a steady stream of words, and he focused on the sound of her voice.

“I’ve got you. You hear me? I’ve got you. You’re almost done. I’m so proud of you Tony. Your Pepper is too I know she is. You’re almost done. You’ve done so well; you’re doing amazing. Just a little bit more and you can see everyone. Peter and Rhodey and Happy… Keep fighting. They’d miss you too, you know? Just a bit more. Then you can kiss Pepper and hug Morgan and hold them for as long as you want. You’ve given everything and it’s not fair but just a little bit more Tony. Just a little bit more—”

Somehow, drowning in pain, slowly, Tony curved his lips into the ghost of a smile. In a shaky, breathless, and breaking whisper, he breathed out, “Will that be all, Miss Potts?”

Pepper cried, and laughed, and gripped his left hand tight, “Never, Mr. Stark.”

Tony smiled, gripped Pepper’s hand hard with his left, and closed his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dun! Two more chapters to go!


	5. Things Are Looking Bleak... Well Pitch Black Actually

When Tony woke again, it was to complete blackness.

The pain in his shoulder, arm, and hand was almost completely gone, leaving only a dull ache in the bones of his right hand. Now that he thought about it, even that ache was slowly lessening with each beat of his pulse. He felt quite comfortable and warm, if a little disoriented.

He brought his hand up close to his eyes to see if he could figure out what state it was in, but he could see nothing.

He remembered an adult version of his daughter say something about bringing him back to life and unfreezing him. The memories became clearer as he became more awake. Was this part of the process? Had she failed and this blackness was the afterlife?

He wondered where he was.

Putting out a hand, he was immediately stopped by a smooth, flat surface. The surface was soft, like cloth, and had something hard behind it when he pushed on it.

He then felt along the surface in front of him, trying to see how far it went.

He froze.

The surface in front of him didn’t go very far. Instead of a lengthy, cloth wall, his hands quickly felt sharp corners and what felt like hard walls close on either side of him. Also, now that he was thinking more clearly he recognized that he was lying down on a soft surface.

Placing his hands on the surface in front of him, he shoved himself back violently.

Neither the surface behind nor in front of him budged an inch.

Beginning to struggle in earnest, his feet landed against another hard surface and he knocked his head against whatever surface was there.

He stopped. He could feel panic coming on. He’d never liked dark, enclosed spaces since the cave in Afghanistan, and being trapped in a spaceship after the first Snap had intensified the dislike tenfold.

He tried to slow his breathing and keep his head clear.

How had he gotten here?

Okay, think Stark. Morgan said they would bring him back, but only after Steve had returned the stone and left a note, and gone on to do whatever else Morgan had hinted at. What else?

She said Tony wasn’t dead and never had been, just frozen… sort of. She hadn’t explained the science in that to his satisfaction. Maybe after he got back to Pepper and Morgan he would do some tinkering…

Wait. Pepper and Morgan thought he was dead. She’d said everyone would think he was dead for weeks.

If he wasn’t dead, but everyone thought he was…

He was in a coffin.

He was in a _coffin_.

He was—

The panic attack came in full force and there was no stopping it.

He was simultaneously in a cave in Afghanistan and trapped in a tiny spaceship running out of air and in a coffin deep underground where nobody would find him.

He heard Yinsen’s dying words and saw Nebula’s faint, unpracticed smile.

He felt the pangs of hunger hitting him while he left a message for Pepper that he was sure would be his last.

Adult Morgan had brought him back to life just for him to die underground, trapped in his own coffin.

He didn’t want… he couldn’t…

He knew his air was limited. He had to stop.

Despite the shuddering gasps, he did his best to count out slow, even breaths. Slowly, ridiculously, painfully slowly his breath became steadier as he tried to focus on nothing but breathing.

Feeling the panic still lurking in the corner of his mind, he tried to focus on a good thought.

The thought was a memory, the same memory he’d used for years on dark nights with nightmares and breathing that would _not_ slow down.

It was Pepper, on the day his life changed forever. He’d probably had a few of those, to be fair, but this was the best one.

Pepper was looking up at him, and the relief and joy in those blue eyes were somehow deeper and more real than anything he’d seen in them before.

His own relief at seeing Pepper alive and on her way to being okay was enormous. Her screams had gone on for hours and he’d been sure for about the last hour that there wasn’t any way she could possibly take any more.

The entire staff in the birthing room came personally recommended by Dr. Helen Cho and Dr. Hulk or whoever he was now.

Tony had still been terrified out of his mind.

Then a voice came from behind him, “Mr. and Mrs. Stark, I’d like you to meet your daughter.”

The words hadn’t, couldn’t, fully register, even then, but he turned around.

The doctor was holding out a small bundle covered in a yellow blanket and he opened his mouth to say he didn’t like to be handed things.

The words died in his throat.

The baby’s head was a weird oval shape and she looked a little like an alien and she was getting saliva on him.

She was the most perfect creation he’d ever seen.

He knew then, that his life was changed forever.

The vivid memory faded to the reality of his situation, but the panic was over.

He was pretty sure the adult Morgan he’d met was a genius and even smarter than him. Surely she would have realized where his body would be when she “unfroze” him?

But if she had, surely he’d already have found her solution by now.

Tony felt around him again and waited a few minutes.

Nothing.

It looked like he was going to die after all, but the thought didn’t terrify him as much anymore.

Really, he was just back where he started, back to when he snapped his fingers on the battlefield. He’d known it would cost him his life, but he was willing to do whatever it took. So long as the world was safe for people like Peter and Morgan and Pepper to grow old and live and be happy, well… it was worth it.

He didn’t want to die, but they were worth it.

He closed his eyes and imagined he was back at home by the lake, Morgan snuggled up to him on one side, Pepper resting her head on his shoulder on the other.

If it was time to go, he wanted to go out remembering those he loved best, and those who’d loved him best.

He closed his eyes.

Thunk.

Tony opened his eyes wide, though he still couldn’t see anything.

Something had hit the coffin, causing the walls around him to shake.

There was scraping, and clanging, and a few more thunks.

Tony tried not to hope.

The top of the coffin flew off, dust flew in the air making him cough and sunlight streamed over him, making him blink.

A hand reached down and he grabbed it, letting it pull him up.

“Welcome back to the land of the living sir!”

Tony blinked, and gaped, and blinked some more.

He didn’t know if he was more surprised by who it was or the fact that they’d called him “_sir_.”

“Clint?”

* * *

The man in front of him let out a small chuckle, “Not quite, but close.”

Tony rubbed the dirt off his face and out of his eyes and looked at the man before him more closely.

At a glance, the man really looked exactly like Clint Barton, but upon further inspection, the hair was several shades darker.

That was really the only difference Tony could see, except… hold on.

He also looked a good twenty years younger!

“Whatever aging cream you’re using Clint, I want in. Actually, I’ll buy the manufacturer. S.I. could use some good investments after the not insignificant world upheaval.”

The man grinned, “Not Clint Barton sir. Though judging from pictures from when he was my age, I’d say I come pretty close.”

Tony sighed, “Look, I don’t care who you are. I’ve already chatted with my dead father, my brought-back-to-life adopted son, and my daughter as an adult. My wife and daughter currently think I’m dead and I just spent the last twenty minutes or so thinking I was going to die in a coffin. So unless you’re a son I haven’t had yet I’d really like to skip the whole chatting part and just get back to my family.”

The man looked a little nervous and shifted his weight, “Son? Um, not exactly sir. I mean, we’ve discussed… I’m hoping someday…”

Tony raised his eyebrows, “Are you Morgan’s younger brother or are you not?”

The man shook his head vigorously, “Not, sir. Definitely not.”

“Okay then…”

Tony waited for the man to explain, but he simply stared back at him.

Tony rolled his eyes, “Okay, whatever, let’s get this over with. Who are you?”

The man smiled, “Nathaniel Barton. Erm, but not the one from your universe… I mean… well Morgs explains this part better than me—”

Tony interrupted him, surprised, “Nathaniel Barton. The Bartons’ youngest son?”

Nathaniel nodded, “Yep, that’s me. No wonder you thought I was my dad, though. I’m still what, like a toddler in this universe?”

“And you’re from the universe where my adult daughter came from?”

“Correct. She sent me here to get you out of the coffin now that the timeline is intact.”

Nathaniel opened his mouth as if to speak more but Tony was obviously not paying attention.

Instead, he was muttering to himself. “Nathaniel… Nathaniel… Nat… Morgs… Natty.”

Tony’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re dating my daughter,” he accused in outrage.

Nathaniel gave a wry grin, “I was hoping we’d skip that part.”

Tony crossed his arms, “So you were hiding it? Does the other Tony know about this?”

Nathaniel rolled his eyes, “Trust me. You and Morgan are really close. I don’t think she could keep a secret from you if she tried. You were the first person she wanted to tell, even knowing you’d probably freak out, sir.”

Tony shook a finger at him, “Don’t be smart with me, and how did you two even get to know each other?”

Nathaniel shrugged, “In our universe, the Avengers had far less conflict and Pepper and Mom got pretty close. Our families hung out all the time, and with the different timeline and without the five-year Blip, Morgs is one year younger than me. I started looking out for her when we were kids, and when she started the superhero gig I wouldn’t stop looking out for her. The rest pretty much just happened, sir.

“Just happened? _What_ just happened? And who told you to call me sir? Sir was my father.”

Nathaniel grinned cheekily, “Nobody told me to, sir. I just know it drives you crazy, sir.”

“Stop that.”

“Yes sir.”

Tony glared, and Nathaniel stared calmly back, a small grin threatening to take hold.

Tony stared at him in the eyes, “If you ever hurt my baby girl. I will cross the barriers of time, space, and alternate realities to come after you. I’m Iron Man, a bit of a genius, and a father first and foremost. You don’t want to cross me.”

Nathaniel nodded, “Understood sir.”

Tony gave him a sharp look, and then a quick nod.

“I’m assuming you know the way to my wife and daughter?”

Nathaniel gave a quick nod in return, gesturing to the lightly worn path behind him, “You’re only about a mile from the lake. The new path’ll lead you straight to the house.”

Tony took a step toward the path, and then looked back at the broken grave and piles of dirt.

“I suppose I should say thanks for getting me out of there,” he said, grudgingly.

Nathaniel gave a half shrug, “No problem.”

Then, after half a moment’s hesitation, he thrust out his hand to shake, “Good to see you alive and on your feet. Spent most of my life looking up to you if I’m honest. Along with my dad of course.”

Tony looked at him, surprised, but then took his hand and shook it.

Hesitating himself, he said, “I guess my daughter having someone else to watch her back might not be so terrible.”

Nathaniel chuckled again, nodded, and without further ado, turned around and began walking down the path in the opposite direction from where Tony intended to go.

Tony felt a sudden sense of euphoria. He was alive. He was about to see Pepper… and Morgan… and Peter…

Tony took another step but then stopped, and looked over his shoulder.

“Nathaniel?”

Nathaniel Barton stopped, turned around, and looked at him questioningly.

“Thank you.”

Nathaniel shrugged, his cheeky grin beginning to form once again.

“You’re welcome Mr. Stark.”


	6. Reunited

Tony began walking down the dirt path, which was lined with long, dry grass and the occasional tall, leafy, hickory tree. The trees appeared more frequently and in greater variety as he went on, winding his way around gentle, small hills.

He began to breathe heavily and felt the sweat begin to trickle down his back as the sun shone fiercely above him. Unbelievable serum-healing aside, his body had still been through the wringer, and it would probably be a bit before he got back into normal shape.

He was just thinking that he’d have to stop for a break when he rounded a small hill and saw blue stretch out before him, ringed by green vegetation, the trees casting shade from the hot sun.

It was the lake… his lake… and his house was just across on the other side.

Without any hesitation he jumped into the water, welcoming the cool relief the water promised.

The solace that the soothing cold brought as he lay in the gently lapping waves was heightened by the knowledge that Pepper and Morgan were only half a mile away.

He completely submerged himself and stretched out along the shallows, only surfacing when he couldn’t hold his breath any longer.

His face lifted out of the water and he sighed in relief, shaking droplets out of his hair.

He began to make his way out of the water but stopped in surprise when his ears were suddenly assaulted with a cacophony of noise disrupting the quiet lakeside.

It was laughter and the squeals of children, and it was strangely familiar.

He’d barely recognized the noise as such when, out of a clump of trees not forty paces from his right, a large figure burst out and began running for the lake.

He kept watching and realized the figure was actually two people: a smaller girl sitting on an older boy’s shoulders.

But these weren’t just any children out for some summer fun. They were… they were…

Morgan giggled and waved her arms dramatically around forcing Peter to keep tight hold of her legs, while she yelled out, “Faster, Petey, faster! Faster!”

Peter ran into the lake and dumped her unceremoniously into the water, holding her up when she surfaced, still giggling maniacally, “Again Petey! Go again!”

Tony found himself unable to move, happy tears suddenly threatening to appear as the events before him unfolded. How many times had he watched Morgan playing in the lake and wished that just such a scene could play out? How many times had he wished that Pete…

Before he could finish his thought, another person came out from the trees, “Be careful you two! Morgan, stop trying to stick Peter’s head under the water. He’s not a fish!”

She looked tired, with dark circles under eyes and a sort of lowering in her shoulders. Nevertheless, Pepper’s gaze was steady and her eyes were fond as she watched the kids. Her hair was as fiery as ever. She stood tall and her hair glinted in the sunshine, looking more blond or red depending on how her head was angled.

Tony could have stood and stared at her happily for the rest of time.

She had one of the waterproof pocket-tablets in her hand. Was she working? Tony frowned in concern. Pepper was one to be on the job 24/7, and she hadn’t had him around to get her to relax.

Friday’s voice came out of the tablet’s tiny speaker system, “Boss Lady.”

Pepper sighed, “What is it Friday? I said this time was for the kids and to only contact me with emergencies.”

“Understood Boss Lady, but you also had me scan for possible paparazzi or threats in the area, what with the reduction in privacy since the… well.”

Pepper sighed again, “You can say it Fri. I need to get used to it. Since Tony’s funeral, you mean. Anyway, what about it? Is there a threat?”

Friday spoke hesitantly, “I… I wouldn’t say so Boss Lady, but I think my scanners must be malfunctioning. You see—”

Pepper interrupted her, “Look, if there’s no clear threat, let it be and I’ll get Bruce to look at you when I get back. If anything comes up I can always call the Rescue armor here in fifteen seconds, right?”

Friday responded, “That’s correct. But—”

Pepper interrupted again, “That’s enough Friday. Mute except in case of immediate danger.”

The conversation ended. Morgan was now trying to convince Peter to be a fish so she could “catch” him. Pepper watched the splashing kids and looked out at the lake. A small smile played at the corners of her mouth.

The scene would have been the most perfect thing Tony had ever seen, except Pepper’s eyes were sad. He hated it when she looked sad.

He took a final step out of the shallows and was about to say something, but before he could Morgan’s eyes went wide and she let out a shriek, “_Daddy_?”

Peter whipped around and froze, staring, “Mr. Stark?”

Tony opened his mouth and tried to think of something to say, but for once he had no one-liners ready, “So… I’m back.”

Next thing he knew the Rescue armor had appeared and was encapsulating Pepper. She flew over to him, knocked him on his back, and primed both hand repulsers at his face.

He gulped but for some reason could not stop his mouth when the right one-liner finally came to him, “Honey, I’m home.”

He didn’t think he’d ever heard her sound so enraged, “Who are you? Why are you impersonating my husband? Don’t you have any respect at all? He’s barely been dead for three weeks! What do you want with our family?”

He stared up at her. The faceplate swung upward and she glared at him. She seemed either on the verge of screaming or breaking into angry tears, and her face was red. Somehow, it made her freckles stand out far more.

He thought she looked gorgeous.

The repulsers made a whirring noise, and Pepper’s face darkened, “Say something! Who are you?”

The fall had knocked the breath out of him, and he coughed, “It’s me, Pep.”

Pepper scoffed, “Bullsh—” she stopped, and looked back at Morgan, watching with huge eyes with Peter’s arms wrapped protectively around her and lowered her voice—“sherbet… I was there when he died. I watched him take his last breath. I saw the life leave his eyes; do you hear me? Trust me, with the number of times he’s come back despite ridiculous odds… If I hadn’t been there right next to him—but I was, I said goodbye, and I watched my husband die. You’re not him. So I’ll ask you one more time. Who are you?”

Tony figured he should start talking, “It’s me. Really.”

Pepper’s glare didn’t falter.

Tony thought for a second, then continued, “We came up with the phrase bull-sherbet when you said the bull-s-word in front of Morgan. You had just finished lecturing me about swearing less in front of her. I told her that bull-s-word was Mommy’s special word and that we couldn’t use it but then she said she wanted a special word. So I said how about we come up with a special word for all of us and Morgan agreed. Then she asked me what the word was and I started with “bull” but for some reason blanked on what to finish it with. You blurted out the first word that came to your mind, which just happened to be sherbet.”

Pepper’s eyes widened and she took a step back, “What? How did you?”

Tony kept talking, “Your father’s name was Bill and your mother’s name was Harriet. When they died you were supposed to go to your Uncle Morgan but he dropped off the map somewhere in China and by the time the authorities got in contact with him you’d turned eighteen. You got through college on academic scholarships and landed a job with Stark Industries right out of college. The first time you met me your supervisor had already fired you and you called me a drunk ass and said if I wasn’t going to get my shit together then I should at least get someone to check my math, that is if I didn’t want to run the company into the ground. I said you were probably right so how about you do it? You said that you didn’t work for me anymore. I offered you a position as my P.A. You only agreed because I promised that if you stuck around for two weeks I would pay all your student loans. Even though you sprayed him with pepper spray, Happy still liked you better than me by the end of the first week.

“I don’t know when I first fell in love with you but I first realized it the moment I walked out of the hanger from Afghanistan and saw you waiting for me with red eyes. The day we got married and the day Morgan was born were the happiest of my life. When we brought Morgan home for the first time I panicked about how I was going to be a horrible father and end up just like Howard near the end of his life. You calmed me down and said I would be a great father because I had the perfect example of all the things not to do. I smiled but said the logic in that was probably flawed and you said that I had to get over it at least for right now because Morgan’s diaper needed changing and you needed to pump and your feet hurt. Then you handed me Morgan and she smiled at me and for the first time, I felt that maybe I could do this.

Pepper took a couple more steps back, “But… but I…”

“You telling me on the battlefield that you would be okay—you and Morgan—was the only thing that made it okay to go. I didn’t want to go, but it was okay, because you would both be safe. Everyone was back, and you’d be safe in a world without Thanos. Your smile was the last thing I held onto before everything went black.”

Pepper kept walking backward and Tony kept following her.

“But… but how…” Pepper whispered.

They both stopped after a few more paces, and Tony cocked his head to one side, “I’m still not a hundred percent sure how, but basically our adult daughter from another universe decided she didn’t want me to die in this one. She took my time travel concept and expanded on it, and must have somehow figured out crossing to other timelines not in her past. Maybe she was able to reverse engineer Steve’s trip to her universe? And then there was the serum that she and Bruce—the one from her universe, that is— created. That somehow healed everything, but also made me appear dead to keep the timelines unaffected or something. With any split creating new timelines any action before Steve returned the stones would negate the whole purpose in a brand new timeline—“

Pepper interrupted, “I don’t care.”

Tony was still speaking, “So obviously that wasn’t—oh. Okay.”

Softly, Pepper spoke, but it wasn’t to him, “Friday, remove the suit.”

“Yes Boss Lady,” Friday replied, and the suit seamlessly melted right off Pepper and condensed into a tiny jewel arc reactor, which Pepper placed in her pocket.

Hesitantly, Pepper took a step toward him, tears in her eyes, “It’s… it’s really you?”

Tony took a step toward her, “Yep. Promise.”

Pepper took another step forward and held out a shaky hand to touch his shoulder, looking as if she expected it to pass right through.

It didn’t, and she moved her hand down, brushing across his chest down to where the arc used to be, and then to his left, her right, pressing down as if to feel his heartbeat.

Gently, carefully, almost warily, he brushed the strand of hair falling over her face behind her ear, “It’s me. I’m home.”

Pepper let out a single, loud, anguished sob and then she was falling against him. She was wrapping her arms around his neck and crying into his shoulder and letting her hand run through his hair and crying some more.

Then she started hitting him, still crying, “Don’t ever ever ever _ever_ do anything like that ever again.”

He cupped her face, managing to distract her from hitting him, “I promise honey.”

Then he kissed her, and it was passionate and wet and Pepper and home and he didn’t want to come up for air.

Then, suddenly, something caused him to stop, while still holding the woman in his arms close, and he looked down. It was the only thing that could have stopped him, really.

Morgan’s voice came from a spot by Pepper’s waist to his left, “Daddy? Are you really back?”

Tony linked his fingers through Pepper’s and tugged her down with him as he knelt to look his daughter in the eyes, “I’m back Morguna.”

Morgan crossed her arms and looked at him appraisingly, a look that was completely her mother through and through, “For good?”

Tony nodded, “For good. I promise Morguna.”

Morgan thought for a second and then nodded, “Good. I told everyone you were coming back. Now you can help me catch Peter. He’s a fish.”

Tony chuckled and drew her in for a hug, during which he kissed her on the head, hard.

Then he looked up at Peter, who could well have been imitating a fish. His mouth was hanging open in a big O, and only closed to fall back open again. His eyes were wide and unblinking. He flapped his arms about in sporadic, jerky motions, rather like fins.

Tony couldn’t help the grin spilling over his face as he looked at the three people before him.

Peter flapped his arms about some more, “Mr. Stark? Sir? I mean… It’s not… It’s… it’s really you?”

Tony was starting to feel like an idiot for grinning so much but he couldn’t bring himself to care, “Yep, it’s me kid. Are you ever going to call me Tony on a regular basis? I know you said it at least once on the battlefield. No going back now.”

Peter didn’t say anything and Tony’s look softened, “It’s really good to see you back here kid.”

Peter stuttered, “You too. I mean, cause, you were dead… or we thought you were dead… and like, there’s memorials and stuff and so it was pretty convincing… I mean… Well I also saw you die; so there’s that too… but like… Did you die and come back to life? Do you remember dying? What was death like? Is that a rude question? I hope that’s not a rude question it’s just seeing you here is a little crazy cause you were dead and it’s a little hard to process and I just… I really missed you Mr. Stark. I mean, uh, we all did, cause you’re such a big public figure and you like have your fingers in a lot of pies, as Aunt May says. We have pie back at the house. Are you hungry? Does being dead make you hungry? Sorry that was probably rude again—”

While Peter spoke, Tony wrapped an arm around his wife’s shoulders and she buried her face in his neck, hiding a chuckle at Peter’s babbling, and he pulled Morgan closer with his other arm.

Eventually, he took pity on the kid, and interrupted him, “Kid, breathe.”

Peter stopped, and then nodded, “Right. Breathing. Right. That’s important.”

Not having a hand free, Tony gestured down with his chin toward the family hug he’d formed with Pepper and Morgan, “Get in here already, kid.

Immediately Peter ran toward them and came up right behind Morgan. Stretching Tony managed to get his arm around Morgan and Peter both and held all three members of his family tight. Turning, he buried his face into Pepper’s hair, breathing in the scent of her conditioner, and if he cried a little bit… well… no one commented on it.

Finally, they were all together, and they were safe.

* * *

A fair distance away, two couples, two women and men in total, watched the family embrace.

“See Natty? I told you we could pull it off!” an adult Morgan said to her boyfriend.

Tony, a far older Tony to be exact, with graying hair and a good many wrinkles, spoke up while leaning on a red and yellow cane, “That was all you Morguna.”

Nathaniel grinned, “Yeah, but I think if you hadn’t done it the Morgan in this timeline would have figured out a way to get her dad back. You’ve never been one to settle, Morgs.”

Pepper, the adult Morgan’s mother, smiled serenely, graceful even in old age, but shook her head wryly, “That’s the Stark genes. They see something wrong, then they fix it. Doesn’t matter if it’s impossible.”

Adult Morgan smiled as she prepared to teleport the four of them back to their own timeline.

Unknowingly, she quoted her dad’s words from long before she was born.

“That’s what we do. We fix things.”

* * *

Tony,—the one just returned from being not-dead—Pepper, Peter and Morgan stayed in their hug for several minutes until Tony could feel Morgan wiggling a little. He loosened his grip on her.

Morgan looked up at him and he looked down at her.

Morgan spoke, seriousness displayed across every feature, “Daddy, we should buy you a welcome back gift, like we got Uncle Happy after he broke his leg.”

Tony nodded, just as serious, “Is that so Morgan H. Stark? What did you have in mind?”

Morgan grinned, “We should get you lots of cheeseburgers and juice pops, but you should share them with me, cause Mommy says when you have too much of something it’s good to share it.”

There was silence for a split second, but then all at once Tony, Pepper, and Peter began howling with laughter.

Tony lifted Morgan up and twirled her around, setting her on his shoulders. Using one hand to keep her steady, he used his other to intertwine his fingers with Pepper’s.

“Cheeseburgers. That sounds perfect Morguna. We’ll get you more cheeseburgers than you can eat. More cheeseburgers than even Peter can eat!”

Morgan, who’d learned something of Peter’s fast metabolism, opened her eyes wide in amazement, “That’s a _lot_ of cheeseburgers.”

Tony began leading them back to the lake house, “We’ll get it delivered though. I don’t want to leave any time soon.”

Morgan cheered and then began wiggling to get down. Once she reached the ground she grasped Peter’s hand and began marching ahead on her tiny legs.

Dragging Peter with her, she huffed up at him, “Come on, Petey. We’re getting cheeseburgers!”

Tony watched them and stopped for a second to look at Pepper, “I’m serious, you know. I’m not leaving. I’m not leaving, ever again.”

Pepper smiled her beautiful smile and leaned in to kiss him.

“Let’s start with ordering those cheeseburgers for the young Madame Secretary, and go from there. We’ve got plenty of time to figure it out.”

Tony smiled, thinking of a long life with Pepper, Morgan, Peter, Happy, Rhodey… He needed to get Harley to visit more. He also remembered a conversation with an older Pepper from a different timeline, and wondered if his Pepper would one day look the same.

He smiled more broadly, “Will that be all, Mrs. Stark?”

Pepper pulled him closer, kissing him before simply looking into his eyes, their noses brushing each other, “Not in the least, Mr. Stark.”

Together, following Morgan and Peter, they made their way back to the lake house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it! That's the end! Hope you liked it! Had a favorite part or anything in particular you liked? Any constructive criticism? Generally liked it overall? Let me know in the comments!

**Author's Note:**

> Everyone on the internet seems to have different theories/ideas/issues with the MCU’s version of time travel. I wanted to explain how time travel works for this story.
> 
> This is the theory I’m going with:
> 
> In the MCU, for this fic, I’m gonna say time travel has 4 rules:
> 
> 1\. Whenever anyone travels to the past, it immediately creates an alternate timeline from that point on.  
-The simple fact that you breathed an extra amount of oxygen on the planet means that a whole new timeline has started. Everything from the timeline you’ve traveled from (meaning your past) stays exactly the same. That’s because any changes you create simply change this other timeline you’ve traveled to, (an alternate reality if you will.)
> 
> 2\. Returning the stones ensured that all the “good guys” of the MCU in these new alternate timelines had the infinity stones as weapons against Thanos.  
-However, that doesn’t change the fact that they are still alternate timelines. For example, there’s an alternate timeline still happening where Loki got free and managed to get the tesseract after the Battle of New York. There’s also a timeline where Thanos, his army, and his daughters just randomly disappeared when they came to our reality. 
> 
> 3\. At the end of Endgame, Steve jumped to the original MCU timeline, but only after he got really old.  
-He didn’t live out his life in the timeline of the MCU movies. He lived in an alternate timeline/reality, got old, probably waited until Peggy died, and then jumped back to the MCU original timeline.
> 
> 4\. Changing something in an alternate timeline/reality doesn’t necessarily make it better or worse. It simply changes it.


End file.
